Why do luxury brand paper bags sell for high prices?

In three clicks and for only 29.99 euros, you are the happy owner of three Chanel bags. The seemingly incongruous idea is nevertheless very real. Designer shopping bags are selling like hotcakes on secondhand platforms. We are not talking about the leather models, but the ones made of cardboard, which are offered after shopping in the store, which should end up in the trash. On eBay, these types of products are sold in batches. calculate €46 for six Chanel models on white paper, €15 for a “slightly crumpled” Louis Vuitton, or even €10 for a Balenciaga shopping bag with a gold effect.

It is the same story in Vinted. Cardboard bags with Gucci, Celine or Christian Dior brands can be bought for an average of 10 to 50 euros. The price varies depending on the condition of the bag, the brand and, of course, the number advertised. “These will be used as packaging for your gifts or for reselling your items if you’ve lost the original packaging,” the Vinted user notes in a description of the item he’s putting up for sale. The item in question is an empty shoe box with its Christian Dior shopping bag, €25 per lot.

Paper bag obsession

Why are they so popular on resale platforms? For some people, especially celebrities, they offer an attraction. At the recent Balenciaga show in Los Angeles, Kim Kardashian carried a leather shopping bag that gives the illusion of Craft paper, signed Balenciaga. a model taken from the collaboration between the fashion house and Erewhon, an American high-end supermarket chain. in Los Angeles County. Not long after, it was the luxury brand Bottega Veneta that confirmed the fashion status of this accessory. In its latest ad campaign, the brand features rapper ASAP Rocky with his hands full to the brim with a supermarket bag. Except that the it-bag, called the Medium Brown Bag, is made of calfskin covered in suede and costs €2,000.

From “disposable” to “reusable”

This sudden appearance of the shopping bag in the fashion market to explain the British daily The Guardian: offers several answers. “Some buy them to display in their homes, it’s the equivalent of fine china for Generation Z. Some use them to create an illusion of wealth.’ A trend accentuated by social networks, where the culture of “stepping” prevails (videos in which users present their latest purchases in front of the camera, Editor’s note) is very prominent. It’s not uncommon to come across internet users flaunting their luxury purchases. A way to highlight a certain social success, like Carrie Bradshaw in the series Sex and the cityhas often been photographed leaving a luxury boutique clutching several shopping bags.

In addition to the outrageous side, luggage offers various decorative and DIY ideas (English “Do It Yourself”, “Fais-le-toi-roi” from French). On TikTok, they are cut up before being framed and displayed on walls, replacing vases to house flowers, or even becoming textured cases. An almost inexhaustible source of inspiration, which also explains the success of this bag, which went from “disposable” to “reusable”. Or indefinite, it depends.